498 



NATURE 



[SEPTFAiPER 



;98 



nor are the subjects arranged in alphabetical order usual 

 in a book for occasional reference. It is a little of a 

 shock to turn from mineral resources to population, from 

 great cities to the native Indians, and from commerce to 

 Alaska ; even although each chapter in itself is excellent 

 reading. 



Mr. Gannett was evidently anxious to resist the tempt- 

 ation of enlarging unduly upon his own special subject, 

 and he has in our opinion gone to the opposite extreme, 

 and lost an opportunity of showing how completely the 

 structure of the country determined by its geology 

 dominates the whole geography of the United States. 

 The introductory chapter does contain a good deal of 

 geology in relation to the configuration of the different 

 natural regions, but the connecting links with the other 

 distributions are wanting. It would be better in a book 

 intended primarily for the general English reader to 

 translate the statistics so freely given into the usual 

 British units of weight and money ; the " short tons " for 

 coal and " long tons " for iron-ore are puzzling, and make 



The Giant Cactus of the Arid Region. 



comparison with other countries difficult. Besides, it 

 would greatly assist the clear conception of such statistics 

 if they were expressed in round numbers. 



Apart from these possibilities for improvement, the 

 book contains nothing which we cannot heartily praise. 

 The revision of the text is very thorough, and we have 

 not detected a single erratum. 



Many of the topics are handled with surprising fresh- 

 ness, and many interesting points are brought out, such 

 as the changed manner of life of the hardy fishers of the 

 New England coast, who have found an easy and profit- 

 able calling as caterers for holiday-makers from the great 

 cities. The author discusses the whole question of 

 American cities, showing how the convenience of the 

 rectangular plan has outweighed aesthetic considerations ; 

 and explaining the relative backwardness of the old 

 cities of the east, compared with the new growths of 

 the west, by the vast amount of capital locked up in such 

 archaic conveniences as gas-works and horse or cable 

 cars, while the untrammelled new municipalities can 



NO. 1508, VOL. 58] 



establish electric power-houses at once for all needs. So, 

 too, he shows that no country in the world possesses so 

 many ruined cities as the United States— not only the 

 abodes of the early mound-builders and cliff-dwellers, but 

 ruins of yesterday ; mushroom towns that teemed with 

 busy thousands in a year, and were abandoned in a month 

 on the failure of a mine or of a company, leaving only 

 "a history of disappointed hopes, of hardships and 

 struggles." 



The movements of population are well treated, and a 

 map showing the areas where more than 10 per cent, of 

 the population are foreign-born, and those where more 

 than 10 per cent, of the population are of negro race, 

 displays the interesting fact that the former occupies the 

 whole north and west, the latter the whole south-east, 

 leaving a narrow belt between the two areas. The 

 number of original statistical and physical maps is one of 

 the most striking and satisfactory features of the book, 

 and the illustrations also are admirably selected. At a 

 time when the United States are entering on a new era 



Fig. 2.— Buttes in the Plateau Region 



of their national life, the publication of so accurate and 

 impartial an account of that great country by one of its 

 own citizens is peculiarly appropriate, and deserves a 

 cordial welcome. Hugh Robert Mill. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



THE concluding meeting of the British Association 

 was held on . Wednesday, September 14. Sir 

 William Crookes occupied the chair, and the Mayor of 

 Bristol (Sir R. H. Symes) and the High Sheriff were 

 present, as well as the principal officers and members of 

 the Association. The following report of the meetmg is 

 from the Times : — 



The proceedings were opened by the announcement 

 that the general committee had been able to pass grants 

 to the amount of 1485/.— an amount which was justified 

 largely by the success of the present meeting. 



Sir Norman Lockyer proposed that the thanks of the 

 Association be given to the Mayor, the High Sheriff, the 



